Growing up, birthdays were always celebrated with a chocolate wacky cake. Made in one mixing bowl, with minimal and inexpensive ingredients (a cake recipe made famous during the Great Depression), it’s still a quick and easy favorite chocolate cake recipe of mine. But I’ve been playing around with recipes over the past few years, determined to find a go-to chocolate cake recipe of just a bit more indulgence. And I can finally say that I have it. I’m sharing the recipe with you here today, topped with an irresistible frosting. If you like to celebrate with a little bit o’ green for St. Patrick’s Day, this Chocolate Cake with Fluffy Mint Chocolate Chip Buttercream would be a most excellent dessert choice!

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I’ve made a number of different chocolate cake recipes over the years, but the one I kept returning to is from Ina Garten’s book Barefoot Contessa at Home, named “Beatty’s Chocolate Cake”. Ina’s cookbooks and Food Network show are among my favorite and most trusted cooking and baking sources. I like Ina’s gentle, positive spirit, plus her kitchen knowledge and approachable recipes.

My cake recipe is just slightly adapted from Ina’s. It’s rich and chocolatey, with a large, super moist crumb. I have deemed it “perfect”. For my birthday, I want this chocolate cake.

This recipe includes espresso powder and hot brewed coffee. And whenever I include these ingredients, there are always people asking if they can eliminate them. I answer back, “Of course you can, but I highly recommend just trying it first, because those ingredients only help to boost the chocolate flavor”. It’s true. And if you’re one of those people, I beg you to just give it a try. I promise that you’ll be rewarded with some of the best chocolate baked goods you’ve ever had.

I topped the cake with a super fluffy mint flavored buttercream frosting. Oh my. Incredibly light in texture, and so killer creamy, it’s totally a lick-the-beater-clean kind of frosting. When the finely chopped chocolate is folded in, it’s like the best frosting version of that awesome mint chocolate chip ice cream.

This chocolate cake with fluffy mint chocolate chip buttercream would be perfect for celebrating so many holidays – think St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Christmas, and New Year’s. And I know several people in my life who would absolutely love to have this sweet chocolate treat to celebrate with on their birthday. I also happen to know a person who would make this cake for no other reason than simply wanting to enjoy the best chocolate cake ever, piled high with irresistibly fluffy mint chocolate chip buttercream. {pick me!}

Directions:

for the chocolate cake:

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9″ x 13″ pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper, and then butter the parchment paper. Add a bit of flour to coat the entire inside surface of the pan, tap out the excess, and set pan aside. This will allow you to turn the cake out onto a platter. If you want to leave the cake in the pan, skip the parchment paper and follow the rest of the steps.

Add buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to dry mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed to low and carefully add hot coffee to the cake batter. Once the coffee is incorporated, scrape the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula and then turn mixer speed to high and beat for 1 minute.

Pour cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the center is mounded and firmed up, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and let cool for about 15 minutes. Place serving platter upside down on top of cake pan, and invert cake onto it. Let cake cool completely before spreading the top with the fluffy mint chocolate chip buttercream.

for the fluffy mint chocolate chip buttercream:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip butter on medium-high speed until very fluffy, about 8 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add powdered sugar and salt, and beat on low to incorporate. Add half and half, mint extract, and vanilla extract, mixing on low until combined. Increase mixer speed to medium-high and beat until very light and fluffy, about 5 to 6 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add green coloring, if desired, and mix until incorporated. With a rubber spatula, fold in the chopped chocolate just before spreading over the chocolate cake.

I love Ina’s recipes and have never made something of hers and not been absolutely in love with the dish. This cake recipe looks great and I love that you used a mint chocolate chip buttercream. The best of both worlds!!

Oh my! That mint buttercream icing does look so fluffy and delicious. The cake recipe is very similar to a favourite one that I use and yes I agree with you…definitely add the coffee and espresso powder :)

Chocolate wacky cake? Even if the recipe wasn’t good, I would have to try it just because of the cool title. However, the queen of this post is the FROSTING. Wowzer—-that’s a two star entry! I had to pin it.

I had issues with my cake erupting in the middle as it baked? I don’t know what went wrong. It looked liked a crevice down the middle and tested done everywhere but there, which was still wet. So I baked it 5 more minutes and took it out. I have not cut into it yet because it is a birthday cake for tonight. However I had used the parchment paper and turned it over so that crevice was hidden. The frosting was AWESOME! I think it will be tasty. However I wondered if the cake batter was supposed to be really runny, like soup? That was how it was when I poured into into the prepared baking pan.

Hi Donna. Oh, no! I have no idea what could have happened. I suppose just differences in ovens can make a difference in the baking time. To reassure you, yes, the batter is very thin when you pour it into the pan before baking. Please update me and let me know how it was once you cut into it.

No worries Brenda, it was really wonderful! So chocolatety and that frosting was perfect! My girlfriend loved it and took the rest home to share with her big family! Good for me because it was so yummy that I would have wanted to eat it all! 😉

Hi Susan – I always buy it at my regular grocery store (Cub Foods), in the baking section with all the other extracts. They carry both McCormick and Watkins brands of mint extract. Amazon carries them also.

I made this cake today for a St. Patty’s Day treat. It was delicious! My husband, who normally prefers plain cake over frosted, tried the cake by itself and then with the frosting. He said the frosting definitely made the cake. I’ll know I’ll be making this one again!

I used the buttercream icing recipe on my own chocolate cake recipe. The icing was absolutely divine! All I had was peppermint extract, I couldn’t find mint anywhere! It still turned out perfectly though.
I have a little time-saving tip, finely grate the semi-sweet chocolate. It took me less than two minutes and I refrigerated it before adding to the icing. You’ll get the exact same results as you would from chopping it.
Thanks for the amazing icing recipe!

I made this cake for my daughter’s birthday last month and loved it! I was going to recreate it today with strawberry instead of mint in the frosting for Valentine’s day but when I pulled up the post the recipe was no longer available just the blog. Please bring the recipe back!